'71 dead and still no arrests, how come?'

Londoners were today confronted with a series of billboards demanding answers about the Grenfell Tower Fire.

Activists from Justice4Grenfell transported the boards, which spell out “71 Dead And Still No Arrests, How Come?” through the capital towards the ruined high-rise to highlight the lack of progress being made in the wake of the tragedy.

Marking eight months since the tragic event, the stunt recreated a scene from the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which won numerous awards at the Golden Globes and multiple nominations for this weekend’s BAFTAs.

Justice4Grenfell
The billboards were paraded through central London before arriving at the scene of the fire in North Kensington

Justice4Grenfell
The stunt was based on a similar one in the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Yvette Williams, MBE and Justice4Grenfell spokeswoman met with community leaders and survivors outside Grenfell Tower, where she explained: “The film that we are using as inspiration, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, highlights the power of advertising to bring about justice.

“We wanted to harness this power to remind people how little has been done since the tragic event shook this community, and the country, just over eight months ago.”

PA Wire/PA Images
71 people lost their lives when Grenfell Tower caught fire in June last year

“These billboards are here because there have still been no arrests, hundreds of survivors remain homeless, and 297 other towers in the UK are still covered in flammable cladding. Furthermore, requests from survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire to appoint a diverse decision-making panel to sit alongside the head of the public inquiry have been denied.”

Kensington and Chelsea Council has been repeatedly criticised for its response to the fire and faces accusations it failed to listen to and act on residents’ concerns before the blaze ripped through the 24-storey tower on 14 June last year.

A Met Police criminal investigation into the fire is likely to last until 2019 at the earliest and could even take several years to complete.

Justice4Grenfell
Grenfell activists say the stunt is to show how little has been done about the tragedy

It was announced this week that the next procedural hearing for the Grenfell Tower Inquiry will be held on March 21 and 22.

In December, Theresa May rejected calls from survivors of the disaster for an independent, diverse panel to sit alongside the head of the inquiry, Sir Martin Moore-Bick.

Lawyers representing victims and survivors have repeatedly raised concerns about the inquiry’s ability to reflect the needs of the diverse community, where the fire took place.